A Great Place to Work

We might think earning a salary or a wage is everything we need to move within our daily lives at work, but it is not the only thing that motivates us to reach our professional goals at The Women’s Bakery (TWB). In fact, our progress and movement depends on many things.  

For example, other motivating factors in the workplace include the environment of our work, our team members, our supervisors, the products, etc. At TWB, we have had the motivation to move forward with all that is happening at our flagship bakery especially because we have a supportive, meaningful, delightful, and beautiful workplace.  

Launching the flagship bakery was a major achievement for the team and even more so for the women we work with. This is the place where they feel comfortable, happy and proud to work in such amazing place, and this leads to their desire to keep working hard, to learn, and to pursue more opportunities for sales, product development, and more!

Oooooh! I can tell more about our café space which is an enjoyable spot to be; our customers really feel comfortable eating TWB’s tasty sweet potato rolls, honey twists, and muffins. They love these products so much that sometimes they fall asleep on swings after doing their work. 

Imagine…

Just come by!!!

Women in Change

What an amazing opportunity to see our country rise and make changes in every angle of its sectors, whether government, private, or public.

My Rwanda is one of the countries that supports women and gives women more chances and opportunities to grow. Rwanda continues to encourage women to create more ideas and to seek support for these ideas.

Because Rwanda and its government cannot not reach every woman in the country, the private sectors are welcomed to join them and work hand in hand. Without collaboration in this capacity, Rwanda would not be where it is today.

Our one and only THE WOMEN’S BAKERY has established itself in Rwanda and has engaged in the sector of women’s empowerment. Our business is doing great things as it is impacting women’s life and the entire community. Fighting against malnutrition and creating sources of income for these women has been one of the most important women’s empowerment activities and it is working.

In addition to baking skillsets, The Women’s Bakery teaches women their rights, how to advocate for them, where to go for help, and ultimately, how to claim their rights. TWB also creates confidence in these women (especially as rights are shared and exercised), which can reduce violence within the families and even in the community.

We thank the private sector and our Government of Rwanda for understanding the value of a woman and to promote equal opportunity with men. We work and get paid so we have source of income. We take good care of our family because we know the value of our family and we have capacity to look after them. To all in Rwanda that has welcomed our business, thank you from THE WOMEN’S BAKERY IN RWANDA.

#breadpower

The Best Solution Against Malnutrition in East Africa

Written by: Charlotte Musengimana, current TWB Bakery Operations Manager Intern

Have you ever meet with a child who is affected by malnutrition disease?

If yes, how did you feel? If no, what could you do to avoid it?

Some children in Africa, and specifically, Rwanda, are poorly fed because they are not consuming foods that provide the proper nutrients for growing. This is a serious problem as malnutrition can lead to serious effects for children, and especially as they become adults.

Good news!

The Women’s Bakery (TWB) is coming throughout East Africa as a social change maker to train and empower women how to source local ingredients FOR healthier, more nutritious products.

Women that go through the TWB training program receive knowledge to bake the best nutritious bread for their family and serve it to the community for an affordable price.

In this work, TWB is hoping to improve the standards of life for the women we work with, and eventually, for those whom consume our bread.

To prevent malnutrition in Africa, lets gather together with this opportunity from TWB by supporting these women who are the backbone of their families.

There are so many ways to support: through buying at least one piece of bread every day, or through supporting our programs so we can do this work.

 Enjoy life with healthy bread!

Imagine

The first thing I saw was turquoise – bright, vivid, imaginative. I walked a little further, stuck between wanting to gallivant forward and taking my time as I approached the bakery – our bakery.

Fully inside, I could see everything that I had been seeing via photographs for the last year; I saw the decorative plants, the plush bean bags, and swings – yes, swings – that fused together to create a space of relaxation and peace.

Most importantly, I saw one of our bakers, Liziki, exit from the back part of the bakery, leaping to give us greetings and hugs.

We had arrived at KG 176 #13 – The Women’s Bakery Flagship Bakery in Kigali.

I remember when this was an idea tossed around a few years ago; what if we had a training center and a bakery in one place? What if we could have one location that would be a model for future locations?

Now, the idea is a reality and I am sitting in a bakery café – a Women’s Bakery café – that is operated by over 10 women that have been with us for several years. Again, as it always is with this work, I am in awe of what all of us, especially women, are capable of.

I am proud to be a team member of an organization that pushes forth the kind of work that blends both business and social impact for women.

I am inspired to see the growth of an idea into a reality – one that not only enables women to have gainful, sustainable employment, but also brings unique products to market (I mean, who doesn’t love avocado frosting?)

And mostly, I am humbled by what is possible.

In the last 3 years with The Women’s Bakery I have learned the power of asking questions and of imagining something beyond what I can conceive.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine that this would be what our flagship was like. We have our offices next to our industrial ovens. We have the production space lined with clean, high-quality tiles. We are running a business and we are kicking ass.

That is really what bread power is all about and I am beyond grateful to witness it and experience it in person.

To all of my team members at TWB: keep rising, keep going. This is truly only the beginning.

Bread Power in Texas

written by former TWB A&M Co-Chair, Madison Jaco

For the 2017-18 school year, I had the privilege of getting to work alongside some badass women for badass women. The past year came with both bitter failures and oh-so-sweet successes, and on the whole, I really feel like I could see TWB A&M blossoming into something more than friends gathering and speaking about empowerment; we were learning, teaching, and truly understanding what it means to empower others and our place within The Women’s Bakery (TWB) model.

When we started the Fall Semester, we were, and I’m just being honest, disappointed by turnout.  We were looking at around half of the members we had the year prior, and Emma and I were a little scared.  However, once we got into the swing of things, we really began to fathom what we were looking at: a group, albeit small, of humans insanely passionate about equality, education, and empowerment of others.  Where we lacked in numbers, we overflowed in determination. 

Over the summer, our officer team had set a goal to raise $1,000 for the entire year, so we challenged our organization of 22 students to each raise $50 over the Thanksgiving Break as our Giving Tuesday fundraiser.  If you’re not a fan of mental math, fulfilling that would have been $1,100 and set us over our original goal.  We didn’t anticipate every person would pull through (let’s be realistic) but for anyone who lacked a dollar, someone else showed up to cover for them.  By the end of our fundraising efforts, TWB A&M had raised just over $1,000 in cash and online donations, and even after we had finished collecting as an organization, people continued to donate directly to TWB.

In the Spring Semester, we were planning the second annual RISE, a larger event for the community to learn about TWB and donate to our scholarship.  We screened Zaza Rising and set up a panel of students (including our resident powerhouse Co-Chair Emma Nelson) and professors alike to discuss the film, TWB, and how students at A&M can empower women both here and across the globe.  Our room fit 80 people as we weren’t expecting more than about 60 to attend, but as people began filing in, the room filled quickly, leaving those who came in at the start of the film standing in the back.  Students asked provocative questions about women’s health and education in Rwanda, the correlation between sex education and autonomy, and what TWB A&M was really doing to help boost women in East Africa.  Excited by what the panel had to say (and probably slightly motivated by the smell of carrot bread), most people contributed to our scholarship through donations and bread and merchandise purchases.

Through all of our fundraising, bread baking, profit shares, and generous donations by local Aggie-affiliated groups, TWB A&M raised $2,000 (double our goal!), which will go directly into our scholarship through TWB and fully fund two women through the trainings.

We were elated with the outcome of our second year here on campus, and hopeful that the student population understands more completely what The Women’s Bakery at Texas A&M means to us, to our members, to the core group at TWB HQ, and, most importantly, to the women who are defining #BreadPower in East Africa each day.

Bread Travels: Madrid, Spain

I’m continuously inspired by just how international The Women’s Bakery’s work is becoming.

On average, we receive between two to four emails a week from people all over the world requesting our model – or a portion of it – to implement in their community. South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Iran, Iraq, The Caribbean, Honduras, and India, just to name a few this year.

What’s exciting about these inquiries is, simply, that they exist. There are people around the world who, like us, had similar revelations that bread could be a powerful medium for women’s empowerment. They see that bakeries can spur an economic ecosystem – meet product demand and support employment for an entire chain of new workers. It’s powerful. Not because bakeries are a new thought, bread is as ancient as it gets, but because people see power in the ripple effect that one small bakery can have.  

The international inspiration continued when, two weeks ago, Julie Greene and I had the opportunity to present The Women’s Bakery’s work to a wonderful audience in Madrid, Spain. Spain! How many people who run a small (but mighty) social enterprise get invited to present on a continent where they don’t (currently) operate? So cool.

The idea for the event began a year ago when Julie’s family friend, Pablo Martinez , suggested that people in Spain would be very interested to learn more about our work. Julie jumped at the opportunity and the planning began. Pablo is the CEO of Colección SOLO, a firm dedicated to showcasing the vibrancy and inspiration of contemporary art.  He and his SOLO amazing team organized and executed a beautiful event showcasing TWB to a diverse, engaged audience. We presented at SOLO’s newly constructed, gorgeous art gallery and the evening was buzzing with excited conversation, ideas and inspiration.

This year is the first time we have had the opportunity to present to secondary and tertiary audiences. That means that no one in the audience, other than our one contact, knows us or is directly connected to us. It also means that people have the space to be more critical because they don’t have a personal investment in one of our team members. But, the enthusiasm in Madrid was palpable. People were so energized by TWB’s work and inspired by our vision.

When this happens – and the vision for the power of bread spreads – we are reminded of the why of what we do. We can’t wait to go back to Spain – and beyond!

The Proof is in the Women

The last few months at TWB Rwanda have flown by, full of successes and challenges both large and small. When asked about our model and what we are achieving, most interested listeners get it – women are benefiting from vocational education and sustainable employment, communities are benefiting from affordable access to nutritious breads, and economies are benefiting from TWB’s local sourcing and local sales.

Visible progress is sometimes slow, but it’s there. You need only look at a simple photo journey following our Kigali bakery group from training, to their first bakery location, then on to the second, and now finally to the Flagship Café, to SEE how much we have grown and accomplished since 2015. And that is only one of our four operating bakeries in Rwanda, with our fifth cohort midway through training and getting ready for bakery launch in June!

Starting with just a framework of ideas and a big vision in 2015, TWB has successfully employed over 40 Rwandans in our network bakeries and headquarter offices, and we continue to grow.

It is therefore surprising when some people don’t get it. Take one government official who asked if our bread was sold in the major grocery stores of Kigali (where, by the way, it would not be remotely affordable). Upon hearing that we sell most of our bread in the local markets (where, by the way, it is highly affordable) he proclaimed that we are clearly not a successful business and don’t belong here. Or, another official who, in response to our queries about tax breaks for small enterprises and social businesses, said we should just export our goods in order to succeed … that would defeat the purpose of improving local nutrition by making affordable products accessible to the base of the market pyramid (and it’s fresh bread?) but nevermind. Not everyone gets it. However, TWB is not deterred.

The proof is in the bread, and in the women, and in our team. Our newly opened Flagship in Kigali is the perfect example of what we can achieve with a dedicated team, some sweat and tears, and the motivation of empowering and sustainably employing women.

#strongwomenbakingbread #breadpower #cantstopwontstop

A TWB PHOTO STORY: FROM 2015 TO NOW

Training in Remera, 2015. 

Baking with our old oven during training, 2015. 

The first site for TWB's Kigali Bakery, 2016.

Operations and sales at the Kigali Bakery, 2016.

Building the TWB Brand: Strong Women Baking Bread, 2017. 

Baking at our new flagship bakery (with new ovens!), 2018

Morning production in the kitchen, 2018. 

Soft launch of the new flagship bakery with Fran, our Marketing and Bakery Operations Coordinator, 2018. 

Gicumbi Training

When I left my Peace Corps village in Gicumbi District in August 2017, I knew I would be back. What I didn’t realize was that I would return so soon and that I would be launching TWB’s fifth Bakery in a Box training program with a group of refugee and Rwandese women.

In November 2017, I sat down with TWB’s Country Director, Noel, to discuss potential new sites to launch a bakery in Rwanda. We had both recently joined the TWB team and were eager to select a new location for TWB’s expansion. When he asked me my thoughts, I almost jumped out of my chair with excitement, “Gicumbi!”

Around two weeks later, Noel, Julie and I took our first of many trips up to the true north of Rwanda- just 1.5 hours outside of Kigali but world’s different. We visited with local leaders I had built relationships with during my two years there, cruised around the extremely mountainous and beautiful sector and started imagining #breadpower making an impact in Gicumbi.

As we curved around the large hills, I pointed out the refugee camp that was near Gicumbi Town. It’s one of the oldest camps in the north and consists almost entirely of Congolese refugees who fled in the early to mid-90s. Although during my Peace Corps service I never entered the camp, I was well aware of its presence, the prevalence of unemployment and malnutrition. Not to mention Gicumbi was seriously lacking fresh, nutritious bread. Most of the bread is high in oil, sugar and other preservatives and shipped in from Uganda, Kigali and other edges of the country. What an opportunity to provide TWB’s fresh, nutritious bread to the Gicumbi community and vocational training and employ Rwandans AND refugees in one of the most lush, beautiful districts in Rwanda? The ball was rolling.

After a few more trips, connecting with District and Camp leaders and some phone calls with our U.S. team, we decided Gicumbi would be the next location for our new bakery. And this time we were doing things differently. Among independently vetting candidates, securing a multi-functional house for training and a bakery and revamping our curriculum, Gicumbi is TWB’s first training with refugees, and it’s a population the team has dreamed of including for a while.

On Tuesday, April 24th, 2018, we officially launched our new bakery training with a mix of 16 incredible Rwandese and refugee women. Local leaders informed us that Rwandans and refugees already had a positive relationship, and that the Government of Rwanda’s priority is to develop programs to foster even stronger connections the two populations.  

In the first week of training, Aime, the Training Manager and I, both witnessed the positive relations between Rwandese and refugees. We witnessed constant support, encouragement and communication as they learned about what TWB is and does, Business Math, Nutrition and Personal Growth and Development. They took a pre-test and baseline survey so we can measure the impact of our training program and get to know them on a deeper level. A bakery is never just a bakery. We want these women, like all our current women employees, to feel safe, empowered and healthy.

It was inspiring to see women from different backgrounds, different hardships, different cultures, all sit together in the same room and all want the same thing: opportunity. An opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, confidence, and income. An opportunity to change the social and economic factors of their lives. In the past, many of these women, especially the refugees, have lacked choice and opportunity for a better life.

Now, over the course of two months, they will have access to TWB’s comprehensive vocational business training program and the opportunity for immediate employment following.

These women are the next group of Strong Women Baking Bread, and I’m so excited to watch them rise.

Opening & Launching the TWB Café Shop and Flagship Bakery

Next Monday is a critical day for The Women’s Bakery: we are officially opening up our flagship location with a soft launch. We can hardly believe that it is finally here!

When we started the bakery at Remera, our endeavors were challenging. However, after moving to our flagship bakery, I can see (and know) that our future is bright.

Together, for the last several months, we have been working together to achieve our mission of launching our Kigali Flagship. It would not have been possible with the passion, energy, and inspiration of our staff at TWB.

With the launch of the café shop and new bakery, our goal is to expand production and volume for our bread products. Ultimately, this will support our biggest goal: bakery profitability.

Since I joined the team in 2016, I have seen many positive changes in the organization. The move to the flagship feels like the biggest accomplishment so far, and because of that, I am positive, but also confident.

We have taken many small steps that have led to this big step. This is bread power.  

It's Going to Go Big

Written by Jill Ritchot, Intern for TWB

In November 2017, I finalized plans to volunteer with The Women’s Bakery in Rwanda. My excitement was palpable. As part of the MovingWorlds Institute fellowship program that had begun in June, I had spent months looking for the right project fit. Suddenly everything had fallen into place; an impactful opportunity to work with and for women, join an engaged and dynamic team, and offer my communications and marketing skills.

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief and felt the eagerness and nervousness begin to bubble up as I thought about what the next few months would bring. I was intrigued by the organization’s mission, had spoken to Heather and Meg, and wanted to learn more. As my departure date approached, I couldn’t wait to see, how is bread powerful?

I stepped off the plane in Kigali at the end of January to begin my three-month project, aiming to create a communications and marketing strategy for the new flagship café. I felt inspired to be jumping in at such an exciting time as the bakery and office moved to the new flagship location and café renovations began. In my first discussions with Meg and Fran on arrival, I quickly saw that it was a fast-paced and lively environment with a diverse, adaptable, and passionate team.

I started by meeting with team members to learn more about who they see as The Women’s Bakery’s customers and what they see as the future of the organization. I was immediately moved by what I heard, “the future is bright”; “it’s going to go big”; “our bread is for everyone”; “when I started, I was teaching the women, now they are teaching me”. I felt fueled to keep digging in and learning more about The Women’s Bakery and our customers.

Together, Fran, Rachel and I conducted market research at three bakery locations.

We began by talking to the people who know our customers best – the women who bake and sell The Women’s Bakery bread every day.  I quickly learned how varied the customers were from location to location and the key differences between what Rwandans and expats look for when buying bread. We continued to build on the team’s and women’s knowledge by doing interviews, surveys, and focus groups with current and potential future customers to explore more. What we discovered is that while there is a lot of diversity in who buys The Women’s Bakery bread, there are also some clear uniting preferences: taste, nutrition, and freshness. That, and much more, is exactly what The Women’s Bakery offers.

I got the chance to see how the women bake the delicious, nutritious and fresh bread every day when I joined the team in the kitchen to learn how to make it. The women’s expertise and confidence in what they do and their patience as they taught us was inspiring. Although we don’t all speak the same language, the joy, laughter, and strength in the kitchen that day both humbled and invigorated me.  It is not just bread rising in the bakery; it is community and empowerment.

As I come towards the end of my time with The Women’s Bakery and armed with our growing customer knowledge, I am working on a variety of marketing tools and strategies with Fran to get the message out. Loud. We are strong women baking bread. Our bread is packed with vitamins, nutrients, and protein.  And in my time in Kigali, I have seen that a loaf of bread truly can inspire, nourish communities, and spark economies.

Now that’s bread power.

From Scratch: Our Flagship Story

Building something from scratch—now there’s a concept we know well at The Women’s Bakery. From our founders who built our Bakery in A Box model from the ground up, to the women in each of our bakery locations around East Africa that bake highly nutritious bread from locally sourced ingredients: we build things from scratch daily. It’s part of our culture: we push, strive, overcome and accomplish in order to further our mission of empowering women through business and education.

We are strong women baking bread... and building financial models, breaking into new markets, recipe testing, operating, organizing, and training. The list is endless.

Our most recent building project, quite literally, has been our effort to create a new Flagship Bakery: a space to propel our brand, display the ultimate success of our model, and sell nutritious bread. The Women’s Bakery Flagship is an inviting environment for Kigali, Rwanda customers to enjoy, interact and collaborate in while learning about and supporting our social enterprise model. It’s a space with higher production capacity to meet growing market demands, a hub for TWB product and marketing innovation, a centralized training center for future TWB programs, a single office location for cohesion as a bakery and organization.

It’s a model for TWB bakeries everywhere.

Building something from scratch takes work. It takes grit. It takes passion and endurance. But those are things that the staff at The Women’s Bakery embodies well. It has been an inspiration to see everyone put their hands to the challenging task of doing something we’ve never done before. But we’re doing it. We’re building it up from scratch: design, processes, systems, products. And it’s going to be AWESOME. It’s going to showcase #breadpower and we cannot wait to share it with you.

Coming soon, The Women’s Bakery Flagship.

Incorporating New Technology – Bakery Growth Pains & Gains

With our exciting move into the Kigali Flagship, TWB has spent the last month in the thick of readjustments, and lots of furniture moving!

While the transition has been a bit stressful and chaotic at times, as one would imagine when combining three entities into one (Kigali Bakery + training center + TWB offices), the results are already proving positive. The bakery took only one day off from operations to transition, and has been increasing production ever since in the larger production space. Meanwhile, the training center is already hosting its first training- TWB’s Bakery Operations Manager Training pilot program, and the company offices are happy to be closer to the Kigali bakery women, as well as the fresh daily bread! 

One of the most exciting, and challenging, new adjustments to the bakery production in Kigali is the use of technical baking equipment, including electric mixers and a three-deck gas oven. While the Kigali baking team was naturally skeptical when we first introduced the new oven and began running tests to ensure the quality and consistency of our bread, everyone has quickly learned new procedures and adopted the giant metal box that clicks and beeps and rings alarms into their daily operations. Within the first week of using the gas oven, the baking team shaved nearly 2 hours from their production time! And, the oven masters no longer have to juggle feeding the fire and monitoring the heat all while baking delicious breads to perfection.  

Over the next few weeks we will also fully incorporate the electric mixers, with the assistance and guidance of our Corporate Sponsor Rademaker to ensure the process. 

We are grateful and excited to take these next steps towards growth in Kigali, and we look forward to improving our efficiency and impact by incorporating better technology!

Harvard's 19th Annual Social Enterprise Conference

For the last 19 years at Harvard University, thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, students, and business professionals have convened to dialogue, debate, and network around issues related to social enterprise.

The Social Enterprise Conference was held this year in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 10-11. The Women’s Bakery had the opportunity to not only attend, but also to speak on a panel entitled, “Creating Economic Opportunities for Women.”

As TWB’s Director of Education & Development, I spoke about TWB’s model, our commitment to women, and the value of harnessing business for good. Moreover, when pressed to share insights or learnings for future social entrepreneurs, I shared two important concepts: 1) you have to listen to others well and 2) things will change – and that’s okay. The Women’s Bakery has changed a lot since I first began my role 2 ½ years ago and this change actually points to larger growth, maturity, and impact.

I was also shared about why working with women in Rwanda is so pressing; typically, narratives about Rwanda allude to the well-known and well-publicized female-majority parliament. However, what that statistic does not reflect is the opportunity available for all women, especially as it relates to income and business. 

The experience at the Social Enterprise Conference reminded me that in many ways The Women’s Bakery is on the cutting edge of social enterprise. We have a lot to learn, always, but we’ve also learned a lot and have put it into practice.

Social enterprise celebrates multiple bottom-lines and I am grateful to be a part of a company that is pushing this possibility forward.

That’s bread power.

Markey's Ted Talk Now Available for Streaming

Friends, family, and supporters of TWB:

It's here. 

Last year, in October, Markey delivered a Ted Talk as part of TedxGateway Arch in St. Louis.

 In her talk, Markey shared about her story in launching The Women's Bakery and also, how we can all reimagine the power of bread. 

You can view the video here. 

Watch it, share it, and spread the #breadpower. 

Happiness Through Bread

Written by Francoise Umutoniwase, Marketing Intern in Kigali

At The Women’s Bakery, a byproduct of our work that I have seen is a word that though commonly used, still holds a lot of meaning.

Happiness.

Happiness comes when you feel satisfied and fulfilled.

How, you may ask, does TWB’s work enable this?

I’m delighted to share.

First, we make bread with local ingredients. There is no need to import raw materials. Because of this, we are creating a product that suppliers and customers alike are pleased with – it is locally sourced, and locally supplied. This generates a greater interest in what we do – ultimately spreading more and more #breadpower.

Second, we make highly nutritious bread (different from what is typically offered on the market) whereby the communities in which we work are excited (and interested) to consume our products. Often, I have seen many of our consumers become more enthused as we have developed more unique products. An example of this has been when we first introduced pretzels to our product line – our customers loved them and it became something for them to look forward to.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, our work environment exudes a culture of happiness. In integrating education, health, and employment together, we are able to work with a powerful group of women who are earning an income to make an impact in their life. Thus, our bakery is more than just a bakery – it’s a place where women come and do good, powerful work.

It’s not easy every day. The work can be difficult and the challenges that our women face are complex and real.

However, the commitment we have is the strength of The Women’s Bakery.

This generates bread power, where bread can effect positive changes in the lives of many. I see happiness in many of the aspects of our work – even with the challenges – and that continues to motivate me each and every day.

Together we rise.

BOM Training Program

Aside from eating all my favorite foods (re: cheese), indulging in everything Christmas, and reconnecting with friends at 10,000 feet, my most recent trip home included time in TWB’s Denver office with my badass colleague, Heather, TWB’s Director of Education and Advocacy. With the goal of getting our Rwandan bakeries to profitability in 2018, Heather designed and composed a 75-hour, Bakery Operations Manager Training Program and a Bakery Operations Manager Manual.

See what I mean? She’s a beast.

I had the opportunity to sit down with her for three intensive days to learn the methodology behind this robust curriculum and discuss a timeline for implementation. One of the coolest parts of my job is working with our Bakery Operations Managers or BOMs.

They are, literally, the bread and (healthy) butter of TWB’s bakeries. They are the leaders responsible for day-to-day operations, on-the-ground problem solving and record keeping. But they aren’t just managers. They serve as leaders, counselors and mentors to the employees in the bakery. They have the ability to listen and moderate social, economical and health issues that many of the women we work with face. They also collaborate with TWB management to report monthly bakery statistics such as sales, loss and profit. They really do it all.

The BOM Training Program will equip our current and future BOMs to sharpen their management skills, master the ins and outs of a TWB bakery, analyze conflict resolution strategies and learn how to lead- with passion, grit and humility. With a mix of theoretical and practical lessons, BOMs will learn every aspect of managing a bakery, including baking, inventory, production, sales, marketing, human resources and tools for accounting. This training program has the ability to take TWB bakeries to the next level- profitability. That’s #breadpower.   

Twists That Make Change

“Pretals, pretals!”

That’s what the women in Remera call them: the pretzels.

This strange and new product that has opened so many doors and pushed us further down the road towards profitability was foreign to the women at our Kigali bakery just a few months ago. Now, they are experts at crafting and baking this special offering.

At The Women’s Bakery, we know that our bread is more than just a food product. It is a livelihood. It represents empowerment, it can bring change. Every muffin, honey tresse, and loaf of sweet potato bread adds to a movement of strong women baking bread. These strong women baking at Remera now have a new product: pretzels. As our highest profit margin product, these pretzels are popping up in cafes and businesses all over Kigali. They have become a vehicle through which the city is learning more about #breadpower. Even private clients are clamoring to get our pretzels at their house party, office meeting, or public event.

And, the women of Remera bakery are seeing the impact their bread can have in a whole new way.

I have had the privilege of being part of testing the recipe, training the women and now bringing this unique product to market. It has been incredible to watch. We have orders daily for this special piece of bread that is continuing TWB’s goal of creating sustainable jobs and enabling profitable bakeries. These twisty bits of salt, herb or cinnamon sugar goodness are not only delicious, they are powerful and they are just one part of the exciting operations that are paving our path for continued success.

The Power of a Product

Even though I work for The Women’s Bakery, leveraging bread and business as means to create opportunity for women in Rwanda (and one day, around the world), don’t be fooled: I’m not an expert baker. When I was incollege, if there was a celebration, I could absolutely bake – from a box. Dry cake or bread mixes were close friends of mine and I would often curate masterful creations of funfetti cakes.

A lot has changed since then. I have baked more breads in the last three years than I previously did my entire life. Using TWB specialty recipes as a launch pad, I have been unafraid in trying new things and getting better at being unafraid in the kitchen. I may not be a bread master, but I am good baker these days, and I am proud of that.

Yet, we – The Women’s Bakery – consistently return to the question – for those not in Rwanda, how can we connect others to our work? What kind of product could we introduce to new communities, particularly in the United States?

Dry Bread Mix. Boom.

Developing and scaling a dry bread mix – based on our TWB recipes – was Markey’s brain child from the beginning. And excitingly, we are now taking the steps to fully research, develop, and test this market opportunity.

For the last three months, we have tested the product within our TWB family, sending free mixes to interested individuals to bake, test, and provide their opinion with surveys. For those that participated, thank you. Your feedback and insights are informing our next iteration of the product, which will bring us closer to launch, and inherently, the ability to build a revenue stream for our work in East Africa and fully launch programs in the United States.

TWB's Program Manager, Hilary Hilsabeck, had her mother, Stacy, test and try the mix. It was a success!

We’re learning a lot.

We learned that roasting sweet potatoes for 40 minutes is a lot of prep work when you are considering buying a mix that is marketed as quick or instant. We learned that we should double the recipe. We learned that 88% of our testers would pay more for a product like ours that supports a social mission. We learned how to adjust the label. We learned that the uniqueness of using sweet potatoes is enticing for our customers. The earthiness, color, and simplicity of our packaging is appealing.

Now, we are taking this information and iterating – again.

TWB friend, Zach Verwey, tested the bread and used microwavable sweet potatoes. This kind of innovation is exactly what we hoped to see in the market testing phase.

This is not unlike what we are doing in Rwanda – constantly designing, delivering, learning, adapting, changing, and trying again. This is business. This, in our case is social business, always changing and adapting so that we not only meet our bottom line of profitability, but also, empowering the women we work with.

We have a vision for where we are going.

Our dry bread mix is not just a mix in a box. It’s a powerful product, one that will not only support the women we work with in East Africa, but also support women that we will, in the future, work with in the United States.

Seriously, that’s bread power.

Baking More Than Bread

by Nalani Tiscareno, TWB Summer Intern

A student at Texas A&M, I had a serious misconception about what it meant to go to college. I was convinced that college was going to be the easiest, most fun, most liberating time of my life. Although college has been many of those things, there is a more difficult side to it that no one often tells you about.

There comes a time, somewhere in the middle of the experience, where you may go through a phase of self-realization, where you question things you once knew to be true, including yourself.

I was in the middle of that phase when The Women’s Bakery came into my life. I was questioning my decision to further my education, not knowing if I had made the right choice. Then, I attended an event held by the TWB Texas A&M Chapter, and I realized why I had decided to go to university. I was so moved by the stories about women coming together to build a community of empowered individuals. I gained immense perspective by learning about the women involved with TWB. Their will to do pursue opportunity and do the best for themselves and their family greatly inspired me.

Quickly, I fell in love with everything that The Women’s Bakery stands for. After hearing the speech that Heather gave, I knew why I had decided to go to college. I was empowering myself. I knew I needed to get involved and help spread the word about the wonderful things that this organization is doing and so, that’s how my summer internship got started.

I had the amazing opportunity to represent The Women’s Bakery at Hope Farmer’s Market in Austin, Texas. Every weekend, I set up a booth and sell sweet potato bread dry bread mixes, as well as zucchini, carrot, and sweet potato muffins. It was an amazing summer, as I got to spend time in my favorite city, as well as advocate such an incredible cause.

The Women’s Bakery was widely accepted in Austin, and I was moved by how much everyone was wanting to get involved and learn about the cause. Every Saturday I baked TWB bread and then on Sunday, made my way from College Station to Austin.

It was definitely challenging at times. The challenges gave me a knew found respect for the women involved in the program. They bake and sell bread every day, and yet somehow make it happen. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to get the word out about what The Women’s Bakery stands for. I hope that I was able to inspire someone, just as I was inspired.

I am a woman, who in seeking self-empowerment in the form of education and The Women’s Bakery, could realize my worth, and my will to move forward in life.

The Women’s Bakery truly bakes more than just bread, it builds and encourages women to empower themselves, and helps them realize that they’ve always had the power to do so.

Testing, Testing

Everyone’s palate craves something different. Our breads are no exception. Heather has been working to refine our sweet potato bread recipe in the U.S. and we are almost there!

We have been getting valuable feedback from our sweet potato dry bread mix packaging, process, and price point.

Dozens of friends and family members have prepared our dry bread mix at home and filled out a survey to help us understand where we can improve.

We ask our potential customers questions such as:

-       Were the directions easy to follow?

-       What did you like best about the label?

-       How much would you pay for this product?

-       How often would you purchase this product?

Simultaneously, we have been encouraging willing participants to try samples of our beet, carrot, and banana breads.

We’ve worked on adapting our Rwanda recipes for the American market. And, now, we are trying to collect at least 100 survey responses on what the consumers like and don’t like about the taste and appearance. These responses will help us make yet another recipe overhaul!

While we aren’t ready to build a bakery in the U.S., we are paving the runway for a kick ass variety of dry bread mixes for healthful snack. Choosing our product will help to support our work in the U.S. and Rwanda.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming launch of our online store, where you can purchase the first iteration of our sweet potato dry bread mix!